Cats Giving Birth to Kittens

"Here's what to expect during
this magical time."

You can help your pregnant cat by treating her normally and not making a big deal of the pregnancy. Cat pregnancy is a normal and natural part of a cat's life. If you're nervous or anxious, your cat can sense this and it may contribute to her anxiety, especially a first time cat mom.

If you need more information about taking care of your cat during pregnancy, please take a look at our Cat Pregnancy page or see How to Take Care of Your Pregnant Cat.

Labor can begin as early as 61 days and as late as 70 days after your cat becomes pregnant. If you don't know the exact date of conception, it's best to be prepared a few days in advance of when you think your cat may give birth to her newborn kittens. You should stay close by.

The first sign of labor for cats giving birth to kittens is restlessness with growls or rhythmic purring. This could last as long as 24 hours.

In the next stage of labor, your pregnant cat will start to have contractions. At the start, the contractions for a cat delivering kittens may be once every 30 minutes and possibly longer. They gradually become more frequent occurring every 30 seconds until right before the birth of the first kitten. Your healthy cat may continue to growl and purr and she may repeatedly lick her vaginal area to stimulate birth.

Helping Your Cat Deliver Her Kittens

Some cats delivering kittens prefer to be on their own at the delivery stage. She may want to be in her kittening box and in the dark while giving birth. Other queens, especially first time cat moms, may need her your presence and encouragement. Keep her calm. Encourage her with gentle words. Reassure her. You may want to just stay nearby with a good book. Keep kids and other pets away.

Timing for Kittens Being Born

When the contractions become more frequent, the birth of the first kitten will normally happen within 20 minutes. The next kittens may come out in rapid succession or in longer intervals. In some cases, the delivery of all the kittens may last as long as 24 hours, especially for large litters. The typical kitten litter size is four kittens. If it looks like labor and delivery is going to be long, your cat will need some nourishment. Offer her a small amount of her favorite food.

Normal Kitten Delivery

Each kitten is usually born head first. The kitten will be in a membrane sac. The queen will rupture the sac with her tongue. She will then clean the kitten by licking away the fluid from her face and stimulating the kitten to breathe. When the kitten cries and flexes its little body, then you know that all is well.

After licking the kitten dry, the new mother cat will then bite the umbilical cord. She usually eats the umbilical cord along with the placenta and the remains of the birth sac. Don’t freak out. This is normal cat behavior.

Instinctively, the kitten will crawl towards its mother's warm body and look for a nipple to suck.

All is well. Congratulations to you and the new mom!

Cats Giving Birth to Kittens—Complications

The kitten delivery process above is the normal process with no complications. Be sure to have your veterinarian’s number, or a 24-hour emergency pet hospital number, nearby just in case of complications.

Complications can happen, for example, if one of the legs of a kitten cannot be pushed out and it remains trapped inside of the birth canal.

Related Article

Kitten Growth Learn about the stages of kitten growth and development.




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